57th Street Art Fair turns 60

June 01, 2007|By Alan G. Artner, Tribune art critic

The art fairs that get the most attention these days are the ones in which international dealers offer modern and contemporary works for extravagant prices in cities such as Basel, London, New York, Miami and Chicago. But well before them was another kind of contemporary art fair in North America, altogether more modest, relaxed and neighborhood-oriented. The local granddaddy of that kind of showcase is the 57th Street Art Fair in Hyde Park, which inaugurates the summer season of outdoor art fairs Saturday and Sunday while marking its 60th anniversary.

When this fair began, Chicago had few commercial art galleries, so serious artists gained an important outlet for meeting each other and the public. Exhibitors in the first 57th Street Art Fair included Emil Armin, Morris Barazani, Egon Weiner, Gertrude Abercrombie and Robert Natkin. Others who achieved international renown after exhibiting at subsequent 57th Street fairs were Richard Hunt, Leon Golub, Nancy Spero and Margaret Burroughs.

The Tribune once recounted the anecdote of the fair's founder, Mary Louise Womer, finding index cards that summarized artists' sales from a fair in the late 1950s. One said that Claes Oldenburg had sold five pieces for a total of $25. Those days are, of course, long gone. But prices for works remain comparatively modest -- the low end can be as low as $10 -- and there is always the outside chance that someone will discover an Oldenburg of tomorrow.

This year the standards determining entry were said to have been more rigorous than they had been for some time. More than 230 artists -- out of a field of 702 applicants -- will exhibit examples of glass, jewelry, leather, photography, printmaking, painting, sculpture, wood ceramics and fiber. The location, as ever, is 56th and 57th streets from Kimbark to Kenwood Avenues. Admission is free, and the show runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. (773-493-3247).